Oscars: 3 Degrees of Meryl Streep (or, What Every Acting Nominee Has in Common)

One actress holds the key to this year's group of nominees.

This story first appeared in the Feb. 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Katharine Hepburn holds the record for winning the most acting Oscars — four — but among contemporary actors, Meryl Streep is the gold standard.

Not only has she won three Oscars (best actress for 1982's Sophie's Choice and 2011's The Iron Lady, best supporting actress for 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer), but she also has received more acting nominations, 19, than anyone else in Academy history.

Nominated this year for her musical turn as the manipulative witch in Into the Woods, the 65-year-old actress will find herself surrounded by familiar company come Oscar night — including Benedict Cumberbatch, with whom she shared the screen in 2013's August: Osage County. In fact, Streep's career has been so prolific that she's separated by no more than three degrees from all of this year's nominees. And her luster should rub off on a few of them.

Click here to see how Streep is connected to this year's crops of nominees.